Contents

Précis

The conflict with the Ori comes to a climax as the team travels to the Ori galaxy.

MGM Official Summary

The official summary is not yet available as this movie has yet to be produced.

Spoilers

Note: Latest updates are in color.

Storyline

The conflict with the Ori comes to a climax. The team travels to the Ori galaxy.

"As SG-1 searches for an Ancient artifact which they hope can defeat the armies of the Ori, they learn more Ori ships are about to be sent through the supergate to launch a final assault on Earth. Daniel discovers that the artifact, the Ark of Truth, may be in the Ori home galaxy, and SG-1 embarks aboard the Odyssey to find it, and pre-empt the attack. The IOA has a plan of their own and SG-1 ends up in a distant galaxy fighting two powerful enemies." — Business Wire, MGM Greenlights New Stargate Movies, January 15, 2007.

Additional information released March 6, 2007:

Vala’s husband Tomin survived the events of “Line in the Sand” and surrenders to Vala for help in stopping the crusade he had once faithfully served. The team flew a cargo ship to Dakara where an Ori warship is in orbit. They eliminated the Prior, but were left with no means to pilot the warship. Tomin warned them that another warship was not far behind, so they decided to leave the warship in orbit, not wishing to kill anyone onboard.

Tomin has warned Vala that there is to be another wave of warships coming through the Supergate soon with Earth as the primary target.

Apparently, since this time, the team has searched for the Ark of Truth, but has not been successful in locating it.

The IOA sends a representative, James Merek, who is substituting for Richard Woolsey who is tied up with the Atlantis Expedition. He is there to interrogate Tomin. Immediately, he questions Mitchell’s decision to leave the Ori warship in orbit over Dakara instead of destroying it. He points out that the warship should have been eliminated, but Mitchell said there were people onboard. Mitchell stated that their hope was that they’d not have to kill any more crusaders once the Ark is uncovered, but they haven’t found it. Merek reminds Mitchell and Landry that the SGC would not exist if it weren’t for the IOA, and then goes to interrogate Tomin.

Merek interrogates Tomin in a small room as Vala, Mitchell, and Teal’c look on from behind a two-way mirror. Tomin tells him that he has already told them all that he knows, but Merek attempts to shake Tomin up with pointed questions, such as how many innocent people he has personally killed in the crusade. Tomin is struggling with the fact that he has been following false gods, and Merek attempts to make sure he is telling the truth instead of leading them on with false information. Merek wants more information about how to defend against the attack.

Vala becomes upset at Merek’s treatment of Tomin. They had treated him as a guest up to this point, but Merek is treating him like a prisoner. Tomin wants to go with Vala and her team to help them make contact with an Anti-Ori underground and locate a place called Ortus Mallum [possibly the location of the Ark, but no details are available as to the significance of this place].

Production Notes

Announcement of the movie was made online by TV Guide, October 11, 2006:

Stargate SG-1 may be winding down its 10-year-run this spring, but here’s some exciting news for its fans. MGM has granted a green light — and enough money — to produce two movies, most likely for DVD, executive producer Brad Wright tells TV Guide. The first flick will tie up most of the finale’s loose threads — “It’s the climax of the Ori story line” — and will be written-directed by exec producer Robert Cooper. The second film, penned by Wright, will involve time travel, and both projects should debut in the fall of 2007. Though no deals are signed, SG-1’s stars are said to be “very eager” to continue.

“They’re not big-budget [films] by any definition, but for us it’s pretty good,” says Wright. “As we’ve proven over the years, just give us little more money and we can make pretty good television, or DVDs.

“There’s a sense of an era for us ending,” Wright continues, “but at the same time, we’re all positive because of the prospect of continuing forward with movies and the introduction next year of Stargate Worlds, a massive multiplayer online game.”

Michael Shanks comments on his interest in being a part of these movies: "Oh yeah, absolutely," he says. "We know that it's going to be a better way to take some time and tell some good stories instead of what we've been doing a lot of years - telling some good stories and some not so good. This time we can really take our time and I think it's a dream fulfilled for a lot of people. Certainly a better wish would be to do a big budget feature film, but to do things like this, with less time commitment and more care taken, is something that we all are very interested in doing; especially if this is going to be the end of the road, then this is a great way to go out." — Michael Shanks, "Skating Past The Gate" Interview on Michael Shanks Online, October 2006.

"Asked about the DVD movies, he [Michael Shanks] said he doesn't know much, but one is supposed to resolve the Ori storyline [...] He doesn't know much and only found out the movies had been green-lit on the internet while he was in Bulgaria." — Solutions Features: Burbank Creation Con Report by Michelle, November 2006.

"As a matter of fact, just last night Brad [Wright] and I were talking about how we're going to work live orchestra into the movies. And we were just discussing that and how, logistically, we were going to do that. Because there is a little more budget on that. So we can do it." — Joel Goldsmith, composer, Interview at Gateworld, December 2006.

IGN Interviews Michael Shanks, published December 18, 2006:

IGN TV: Though there isn't going to be a next season, there was an announcement that movies would be in the works. Are you set to appear in the movies and is there anything you can tell us about what the movies will center around? I didn't know if you'd got those scripts yet or not. I know I heard something about filming starting in April and June.

Shanks: I just finished negotiations - I think most of the cast has finished for appearances in movies - as far as I know, you guys by reading stuff on the Internet know as much as I do, because all we knew were we were going to do two movies, and Rob and Brad were going to pull away from the Atlantis franchise and focus on doing these movies - Rob was going to write one and Brad was going to write one. Rob was going to direct one and I think Martin Wood was going to direct the other.

We know the first shoot date of the first movie is April 15th and the second is around June 1st. As much as I know about the story, the first one Rob is writing and directing has to do with wrapping up the Ori storyline, which is the storyline that has taken prominence for the last two years of the show. I don't know if he is going to wrap it up completely or bring it to some conclusion for the sake of the fans and the franchise, to bring that epic struggle to a close…I don't know how he is going to do it in two hours but it will be pretty interesting to watch.

[...] Quite frankly that is as much as I know. I haven't even talked to the guys about it. They told us these pitches in September, so I haven't talked to anyone since then so that could've changed overnight, I have no idea. Everybody is very excited to close the book on the show and maybe it will introduce the possibility of continuing the franchise in the DVD format or taking it to another level and boosting it up to a feature film or it just might be on closing the book on it or another spinoff - who knows. There is a lot of potential for the franchise and it would be a shame just for it to end, but it has been a wonderful run.

"... I did read Rob's outline. Whooowheee! It is going to be huge! I suppose I shouldn't be surprised. By now, he's had plenty of practice writing series finales. I'd drop some hints but, having seen my poem, Rob has requested the right to perform a Stargate rap in which he will cleverly offer up hints to the upcoming movie." — Joseph Mallozzi in his personal blog, January 4, 2007.

"Regarding yesterday's post, SG-1 Forever writes: 'Jack would be awesome! Can you tell us if he's in the movies, Joe?' Answer: Nothing to report on this front (sorry)..." — Joseph Mallozzi in his personal blog, January 10, 2007.

The pay-off of the Ori storyline will be in the first DVD movie, which RCC is writing and directing. He had planned it as an arc for Season 11, but will now resolve it in a “very exciting” two hours. MGM has financed the movies based only on projected DVD sales, but are looking for broadcast deals as well. The funding for each of the 2 DVD movies is more than it would be for 2 episodes, but still nowhere near a feature-type budget, so they will be using their creativity to make it look big on a TV-movie budget. All of the main cast have signed for the movie, and they have contacted RDA about appearing as O’Neill in one or both movies. No work on whether that will work out business-wise or not.

Because the first DVD movie will be a continuation of Season 10, the DVD will include a 1-hour special on the history of Stargate so that viewers who haven’t seen all of Stargate will know what is going on. The special will be called “Stargate Mythology” and will include material on how real-world ancient mythology has played into the Stargate shows.

The movies will not be tied to an exact length, so they can edit them to have all the scenes and shots that make sense for the stories, rather than being tied to 44:15 like they were for episodes. They will also be shot in widescreen 16×9 format without ‘protecting’ the center of the screen, for a movie-like feel.

The movies will keep RCC and BW busy until the summer time. They are writing now, planning of 4 weeks of shooting for each starting in mid April, then the usual post-production.

The first SG-1 DVD movie will be called Stargate: The Ark of Truth. In it, the team will travel to the Ori galaxy. The Ori arc will end with this movie.

He [Brad Wright] does not feel going direct to DVD for the movies is a bad thing. As home theaters become so good, more and more people prefer to watch movies on DVD. The 16×9 widescreen format gives them a lot more freedom to film in a movie style as well, rather than having to keep all the action in the center of the screen for 4×3 TV’s.

"As SG-1 searches for an Ancient artifact which they hope can defeat the armies of the Ori, they learn more Ori ships are about to be sent through the supergate to launch a final assault on Earth. Daniel discovers that the artifact, the Ark of Truth, may be in the Ori home galaxy, and SG-1 embarks aboard the Odyssey to find it, and pre-empt the attack. The IOA has a plan of their own and SG-1 ends up in a distant galaxy fighting two powerful enemies." — Business Wire, MGM Greenlights New Stargate Movies, January 15, 2007.

"Anonymous #5 writes: “I read in Variety that Beau Bridges is going to be starring in a new show for Fox. Does this mean General Landry won't be in the movies?” Answer: Congratulations to Beau who is hilarious on My Name is Earl and I’m sure will prove just as hilarious on his new series. And, yes, General Landry will be making an appearance in both SG-1 movies." — Joseph Mallozzi, Personal Blog, February 21, 2007.

Fans who attended the Vancouver Con held March 22-26, 2007, report in their journals and forums that Robert C. Cooper read a few pages from the script and that it sounds like it is set at the time when the Altera hid the Ark of Truth and then fled their home galaxy millions of years ago. This was also thought to be the opening scene and might very well be similar to the way viewers were shown the city-ship Atlantis leave the Antarctic several million years ago at the beginning of the pilot "Rising" for Stargate Atlantis.

Note that all spoilers are subject to change before the finished film is produced.